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In the early 1950s, Robert C. Levine went for a walk with a friend in a Queens park and stumbled on remains of the Long Island Motor Parkway. The road ended on an abandoned bridge near ball fields in Fresh Meadows. His friend documented the moment in the above photo with Robert leaning on the guard rail.

This bridge carried the Long Island Motor Parkway over the North Hempstead Turnpike from 1928 to 1938. It was the first bridge after the western terminus at Horace Harding Boulevard. Identical to the three remaining bridges in Queens, it was demolished in the 1950s when the area was developed as part of Cunningham Park.

Comments

Oct 25 2009steve janiver8:53 PM

Great pic. I lived a couple of blocks from what I believe is that bridge. I was born in 1952 and I would see the above bridge standing alone in a green field. This grass area was next to p.s. 179 and the woods at approx 199st and 67th ave.

It drove me crazy looking at this bridge on grassland wondering what was there before it. Wow. Mystery kinda sort solved.

Long island

About

The six Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island from 1904 to 1910 were the greatest sporting events of their day, and the first international automobile road races held in the United States. The races had a far-reaching impact on the development of American automobiles and parkways. This site provides comprehensive information on the races, the Long Island Motor Parkway and current Long Island automotive events, car shows and news.